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Crying Vessel Before Life Was Death Review by Gary Hill This album has a great retro vibe. Yet, there are also fresh things here. It's built around the sort of gothic sound that was popular in the 1980s and 90s via bands like Bauhaus, The Cure and more. This is part techno, part electronica and part industrial. It's also all effective. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2023 Volume 5 More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2023.

Track by Track Review

Left For Dead Weird ambient textures are accompanied by a whispered female voice. An industrial sort of pounding comes in to join, and the track gets some non-lyrical vocals over the top of that. This gets into driving, techno, Goth styled sounds as the sung vocals join.

The Fourth Entity Heavy, moody and dark, this has a real cinematic angle. The Goth and industrial angles are so strong.

It’s So Strange I get both a Cure vibe from this and some hints of Bauhaus. This is a great blast of retro sound with a lot of style.

Blossom This isn't a big change. It's an effective techno rocker. It is also another blast from the past.

Nevermind Stating with a more modern electronic rock angle, this builds out into more powered up and retro sounding textures from there.

It’s Starting To Kill I really love this song. It has a lot of that Gothic, old school vibe to it. This feels like it could have come out in the 1980s. It is one of the highlights of the album. It's evocative and so strong.

Those Burning Words I'm reminded of the Cure to a large degree on this track. It's another strong piece of music.

A Helping Hand More industrial in nature, this still has plenty of that moody electronics angle at play. This is solid, but not any kind of standout track.

Roadblocks There are no big changes here. Instead, we get another effective piece.

The Raven’s Call I like the balance between more rocking and mellower electronic vibes on this number. There is even a break that brings some almost operatic mellow textures. This is one of the stronger pieces here. At close to five-and-a-half minutes long, it's also the epic of the set.

For A Second Of Love Lush, intricate and dramatic, there is a dreamy quality to this. It's very electronic and moody. It's a standout and great choice for album closer.

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